That's Life
by littleRionchan
Summary: A series of drabbles for my own personal enjoyment and endorsement of a very unpopular pairing. YOU TWO Y U NO HAS FANWORK! See you made me go and write my own...that is not ok. T for safety...I'll post my smut elsewhere.
1. Omattase

Ok, here's a thing to apologize for my being a little shit the past few months.

My tumblr followers will know that I am a _**NUT** _for one of the most minor pairing out there, like THEY DO NOT HAVE FANART (aside from mine and a few choice others) MINOR. So, yes, I am contributing to the reservoir for two of my favorite characters because there is simply not enough stories wherein they are even in the same scene.

So here we are.

:::..:::

"…You sure?" deep blue eyes glanced sideways at the determine brunette.

"What's this, Ikki? You care, now?" Sagittarius Seiya threw back his head in a throaty laugh. The blue-hair man grunted softly and turned away. He didn't like that laugh. It was too old to be coming out of the silly Pegasus.

"…Just making sure I won't have to cut my vacation short."

"Of course," the younger man gave him a wry grin. "It's fine Ikki, I _have_ thought about this you know."

"You have…that's a scary thought."

"Hey!"

A large, rough hand descended into the dark brown curls giving them one…two rough caresses. Seiya quieted, and for a moment a strange want glittered from the depths of those brown eyes. Ikki had a brief inclination to drag his tangled fingers away from the messy locks, but he didn't.

"This…this will be good for me," The younger man insisted firmly. Who was he trying to convince? Ikki or himself. "I can't keep….I can't keep relying on you like I do. Heh, how embarrassing."

Maybe both it seems.

"Until you lose for real, right?"

"Yeah…until I'm beaten completely."

Perhaps they should have hugged or clasp hands; there _were_ brothers. But that had never been the way they dealt with each other. And so Ikki departed with nary a glance behind.

Over the years, he saw Shun on occasion, maybe Hyouga once or twice when the blonde was down in the pacific. Neither Shiryu nor Seiya ever left their iconic posts. They were quiet years, peaceful years he was left to his own duties and meditations. It wasn't happiness, never happiness, but it was a good life for a delinquent like him.

Then Mars reared his ugly head. For a while Ikki welcome the change. It seems he was getting bored after all. Not a single living Martian ever manage to set foot on Kanon Island…nor indeed on the entirety of the Pacific Islands. It was child's play for him. But really Ikki was only at the very fringes of battle.

The phoenix would never admit to missing the hot-headed desperate war raging in Greece.

Apparently Seiya picked up a baby in a fight somewhere, Shun said…huh, only that idiot.

And then he felt it, and explosion of familiar cosmos, nearly divine, one so brilliant it could be felt halfway across the world.

"Fuck this." He summoned his cloth to him, welcoming the familiar heat and flew. His wings cut trails of fire through the air at the speed of light heading for Greece. He didn't particularly care about the promise at that time. Though he knew the Sagittarius would forgive him anyways. That idiot was crazy if he though Ikki was going to sit out of this one.

But it turned out, he need not have worried. He managed to keep his promise anyway, touching down in sanctuary only after Seiya's entire existence had been consumed.

And something important snapped in all of them that day. They fought like demons the four, but somehow, it was not enough, and it was only sending Shaina off to who knows where with Athena that they really "won" in any sense.

The peace had spoiled him, softened him. The shame of it was a bitter pill, worse than his torn and broken body. He fled back to his volcano…and submerged himself in his meditations, becoming one with the island. He was no use to them now.

'I'm sorry' went unspoken.

It was a spark of cosmos that woke him next blistering and familiar and pure pure white. For a moment he toyed with the thought that the idiot blockhead had returned. No, not so.

None the less, he felt the world disappearing around him. So Ikki anchored himself, became Kanon Island, and spread his cosmos despite the festering darkness in him and held his world down. Perhaps if he too was consumed, he'd find Seiya somewhere in the darkness. Shun would want him back.

Drained of power, be fell back into deep slumber after the ordeal, just as his stained, broken cloth was beginning to reassemble around him.

The next time he woke, he was aware. He was ready. And, by the dappled white and gold cosmos prickling his senses… it looks like he was just in time.

"Omattase."


	2. Doumo

Complete and utter crack.

::..::

His first chance was when Fornax tried to burn the house down and he really should have said it then. But they'd just been reunited…all of them, and it would be almost cruel to make this about him and not about Shun. So that didn't count at all.

His second chance was the Perseus incident, but by then Shiryu had gone blind and it was a horrible time to bring it up. Plus almost immediately afterwards the bastard had up and disappeared, so he couldn't have said it. So that didn't count either.

He could have said it during the sanctuary takeover…but no one was really up for chitchat at the time. Fighting for your life tended to do that. That also didn't count.

He could have said it in the hospital, but by then he didn't remember. How could he have? Besides, the person who needed to hear it wouldn't have heard, defeating the purpose of the whole thing. It was hardly his fault.

And then there was Poseidon….dear god Poseidon. He was still fuming mad enough to kill at that retard ditto…no calm down. He's dead, there's no use destroying property over it.

For some reason, they just never seemed to run into each other after Atlantis. He saw almost every other member of their little group sometimes just on accident. And it wasn't like neither of them went to Sanctuary either, but for some reason, they just never met….until Elysium and by then, there was no way…just no. The timing was awful, the place was awful, and there were way way way more important things to worry about. Even so it ached when what he thought was his last chance slipped cruelly from his fingers.

Until of course it didn't, but after the revival Saori went on this crazy monopolizing streak that was to bad it made Jabu curl up in the corner questioning his life choices. He knows…he'd seen the poor schmook. Besides, while it's not like he couldn't have said it in front of anyone…he really REALLY didn't did feel like it. So nope.

And then Kouga came and then they NEVER met anymore because one of them was stuck babysitting and the other 3 much preferred not to deal with Mommy!Shun. No one blamed anyone because to frank, it scared them all juuuuust a little.

And then Mars happened…and again one of those last chances cut him to quick. But Seiya had bested a good once, he can do again, so everyone retreated to wait it out.

14 years later, they fight Pallas…some dippy shit little goddess with equally as dippy little warriors.

And now his patience was fucking gone. So whoopdeedoo, screw proper timing. The moment he caught the stupid bastard alone he shoved him into a convenient abandoned building whether the idiot liked it or not.

"Oi, listen."

"Na…na?"

"I…never did thank you for knocking sense into me."

"Wait...when?"

"Back then...in the begining."

It took him a bit, like the wasn't quite sure what ikki was talkign about but then understanding dawned. And then fucking Seiya had the audacity to laugh, clear and strong and way too happy for his own damn good. The 40-year-old gold saint clutched at his stomach and doubled over for 2 minutes...5 minutes...10.

Annoyed Ikki turned heel and left.

"Wa~ wait...Ikki..hehehe." He stopped to throw an annoyed look over his shoulder. "Wow just...hehe...you're welcome...27 years ago."

And the laughter sprang anew.

That'll teach him to be nice to anyone ever again.


	3. Of Little Ponies and Santa Hats

Ok a legit one this time. It did fairly well on Deviantart, so tried and true material here.

:::..:::

Seiya was truly a marvel, Ikki decided. He was not always so in a good way, but that didn't change this essential fact.

For one thing, most humans – hell, most saints – knew that the further one stayed away from Phoenix Ikki, the better. If not out of a sense of respect for his skill and position in Sanctuary; then it was out of a basic sense of self-preservation most animals were innately born with.

Seiya was apparently not most animals, for there stood the little Pegasus before him, a ridiculous furry _thing_ clutched in his hands, looking up expectantly at the older bronze saint **_completely unfazed_**.

Well, maybe their battles together had desensitized the small brunette to Ikki's oppressive presence…

…_But still…_

"Seiya, what is that?" He asked pointedly after a few seconds.

"A hat," the younger boy replied happily. His smile was something that was seen, heard, and – somehow – felt. "Merry Christmas Ikki!"

The chocolate haired saint persisted in trying to push the blue and yellow abomination at his fellow saint, wholly oblivious to the incredulous stares of pretty much everyone. Had Ikki been a lesser man, he would have too. As saints, they had had no use for something like Christmas. As people, they had even less cause to celebrate such a familial holiday.

The short brunette had not stopped speaking as Ikki pondered.

"…I got Shun a white one, cuz his cloth is too much pink already. I got Shiryu a green one cuz, well duh. Hyouga got a blue and black one to match his pants. Geki seems to like his gray one, but Jabu didn't look too happy when I gave him his. It's his favorite color though! Anyways, none of them are free yet since Hyouga's still out with this girl he met. Shiryu's meditating again. Everyone else is training, although Shaka-san says he'll let Shun go in about 3 hours. So it's just you and me for a while. Wanna go get the cake?"

"And you ask me this…why?" the Phoenix asked pointedly. Seiya didn't usually express particular interest in his company.

"I don't know what cake you like. I've never actually seen you eat any," the smaller saint explained, smile still fast upon his face.

Ikki remained silent, but the boy was unperturbed.

"Cake, really?"

"It's Christmas! You gotta have cake! We can get one less sweet, if that's not your thing."

"..."

"Come on, it'll be fun. It won't take long and we'll still have time to kick back before everyone else comes by." the younger boy urged hopefully, pinning his fellow saint with wide hopeful brown eyes.

Ikki was vaguely reminded of a small furry animal...a squirrel or some shit like that.

"Aiolia-san even says it's ok as long as we don't make a mess in his temple." Seiya persisted.

The blue-haired young man paused for a few moments longer, feeling a sort of awkwardness he never thought he could feel creep up his spine. Even in a world where gods and goddesses routinely assaulted one another for the right to destroy everything, it seems, Seiya was still...truly...one of a kind.

"Che, fine," the Phoenix saint remarked finally. He ruffled the little Pegasus's choppy brown spikes as he walked past him downstairs. When Seiya turned around to follow him, Ikki finally allowed the younger boy to give him the stupid looking santa hat. Knocking him lightly on the forehead with a single knuckle when the boy became a little too rambunctious on the stairs.

…He's still not going to wear it.


	4. Uruse--

Seiya was Ikki's cat. That was just how it was. Every other one belonged to Shun, but Seiya was Ikki's cat.

He had found the thing while walking home one day in the dumpster making a racket with its head stuck in an empty sardine can. On a very surprising whim to be charitable for once in his life (and perhaps a desire to preserve the peace of the neighborhood) Ikki took a minute to pluck the thing out of its aluminum prison. He went on his way, and that was that.

Or it should have been.

What he didn't expect was for the scraggly little fluff ball to show up on his door mat staring up at him happy and unblinking the next morning. Generosity gone, he'd shoved with out of the way with a nudge of his foot and hauled his backpack to his shoulder as he headed to the train station.

…Only to come home to an excited Shun who, it seemed, had let the little fur ball inside.

"You're kidding me." The older boy grumbled when his young brother, happy and sparkly-eyed thrust a handful of happy and sparkly-eyed fur (that seems to have at some point been bathed and brushed to optimal fluffiness) at him.

"But nii-san, I couldn't just leave him on the porch like that," Shun said pointedly. "He's such a little kitten."

"He seems to have done fine for himself until now." Ikki raised an eyebrow.

"But he was just sitting there. He was even there this morning before I left for school. Poor thing must've been all alone for hours!" the green eyed boy persisted lips beginning to pull down in a pout, holding the cat just under his chin. "Just look at the little guy. I would hate to turn him out again after that. And I think ours kind of take to him."

"…We have too many cats already."

"Natassia will take good care of him. Don't worry this little one won't be a bother at all, I promise!" Shun pleaded looking at his older brother hopefully. Ikki groaned running a hand through his dark curls.

"He will stay out of my way, and you're going to buy his stuff with your own money," Ikki sighed. There was no used fighting a losing battle.

"Thank you!"

The older boy huffed and headed up stairs, opening up his university homework, and forcing himself to be lost inside the wonderful world of Chemistry….joy.

When Ikki next looked up it was because of the peculiar feeling that he was being watched. Indeed he was, by a pair of warm glittering mahogany eyes.

"How the fuck did you get on my desk?" Ikki growled trying to brush the kitten away with a rough gesture. The idiot leaped over his hand like it was some kind of game, crouching and wagging its tail before trying to pounce his thumb.

Was this little shit even a cat?

Unsuccessful, the little chocolate colored kitten stumbled over itself diving head first into his desk lamp. Ikki's hand snapped out, but surprisingly there hadn't been enough force in that fall to upset the base even a little. Rather it seemed to have knocked the wind out of itself, plopping down unceremoniously on its hind legs and shaking its head back and forth. A tiny paw came up to cover its nose as it began to make sad little squeaks.

The fucking annoying little shit was making impossible to concentrate.

With a grumble, the blue haired young man, scooped up the kitten with one hand and made to put him on the floor, but the stupid cat blinked it's liquid brown eyes up at him and curled against his palm, rubbing its soft head on his fingers, seeking comfort. He stopped for a moment.

…and then picked it's up by the scruff of its neck instead. Ikki was putting it outside his room when Shun came upstairs.

"Ten-chan!" He cooed happily, "I thought you'd gotten into trouble! You shouldn't bother nii-san silly."

"Ten-chan?" A navy eyebrow rose slightly.

"Well, he's got a little white spot on his tummy, see?" Shun gently turned the kitten over, and indeed there was a white splotch on the cat's stomach. He sniffed a little at the name though; sounded odd as hell. The cat seemed to imitate him, the little snout wrinkling daintily. It made his eyes bug out comically like he was staring extremely hard at something. The younger boy was absolutely delighted, glancing sideways at Ikki with a look that the elder chose to ignore.

"If you don't like it…you could rename him."

"…No."

"Oh come on Ikki, the little guy seems to like you."

"No."

"It'll take ten seconds tops."

"You're plotting something."

"Now you're just being silly." The younger boy pushed the confused cat back in his brother's hand with a smile. "Just do it, please. I'm running out of good ideas…"

Ikki stared down at the little scrap of fur. The kitten rearranged itself in his hand, pain obviously forgotten; a foot came up scratch at one ear. Sitting like that the splotch seemed to be in the direct center of its body, almost luminous in the middle of the dark brown, like an oddly shaped star.

"Seiya."

"What?" Shun blinked, not quite believing that his brother gave in so easily.

"His name's Seiya," Ikki repeated gruffly. "If you're gonna name something after an arbitrary spot, at least make it mean something."

He handed the cat back to his little brother and closed the door.

"Well, looks like Seiya it is," Shun blinked at the newly named Seiya who blinked back with a little happy noise. "Aw, you like that don't you.

After that day, life _changed_.

Now normally this wouldn't work at all. Their household already had cats, a whole family to be precise. Shun's golden maine coon, Natassia, had gotten out one night, and for better or worse had run into another cat. It was around that time that an unusually large black tom cat had started prowling about the neighborhood, eventually staying almost exclusively around their house. The birth of a litter kittens, Hyouga, Shiryu, June, Jabu, and a still born, proved that it was probably that tom who had managed to catch their little girl.

Normally an outsider feline would have to be socialized properly lest the others viewed him as a threat...or food. This had happened pretty much with any stray animal following Shun home so far, up until the offending house guest wandered off on its own accord.

Not so with Seiya.

Whether it was because he was so small or so inherently pathetic looking, none of the preexisting cats had decided he was really worth bothering with. None of the four kittens felt their place threatened. Natassia took to the little sucker like a mother goose. Even the black tom, Dohko, that had been known to vandalize many of their temporary pets, did not give Seiya any trouble. Rather he seemed amused, lazily batting the little thing around like a new toy.

Ikki, om his part, had never given much thought to the cats. Sometimes they were there and sometime they weren't. He filled the food dish on the occasions Shun didn't, but generally the felines kept out of his way.

Not so with Seiya.

Wherever he went, the little fur ball was sure to follow, sitting on books, slipping beneath tables, sliding over linoleum. Sometimes Seiya followed at a distance; more often he literally ran in circles around Ikki's feet. More than once the college student had accidentally kicked the thing while walking.

One time, he tripped and punted the chocolate colored kitten halfway across the room, it was so small. A little shell shocked he'd watch the surprisingly robust animal picked itself up and gave a few squeaky little coughs. Seiya looked at him for a moment, questioning and almost guilty. For some reason, Ikki couldn't help to stare back locked inside that unblinking mahogany gaze. Then on still shaky legs, Seiya found its way over to where its chosen human sat on the floor, rubbing the fury little head against his knee.

They were interrupted by a loud "mreow" from Hyouga who'd discovered his water bowl empty.

Scowling, he scooped the smaller kitten up with one hand and went to refill it.

From that day on, Ikki had simply taken to picking Seiya up whenever the moron got uncomfortably close to his toes. It was just easier that way. For him, Seiya was a perfect handful, just barely too big to ride in his pocket. He slowly became accustomed to watching for the little troublemaker; because obviously, Seiya learned nothing from the haphazard episodes.

It wasn't that Seiya was stupid.

It was that it was really REALLY **ABYSMALLY **stupid.

So Ikki carried it around, sometimes on a shoulder if he didn't have hands available at the time. He even got used to all the rampart affection, quickly learning that Seiya rubbed himself all over everything, and glaring at the foolish thing was no deterrent whatsoever. He'd even gotten used to the rolling purr that made the entire little body rumble beneath his hand whenever Ikki was bored enough to pay the little idiot a bit of attention. He was even beginning to pick up the nuances in Seiya's little noises which only came in three categories: happy, hungry, and sulky. It was very vocal about it, whatever the case.

Not surprisingly, Seiya was often in need of mothering. Ikki often shoved the young kitten over to Natassia and Shiryu who were both eager to oblige. If he spent a little more time with them now…well it was just a coincidence.

"He's cute isn't he?' Shun asked one day with a knowing smile. Slender fingers combed through the silky brown fur of the kitten curled up on the couch cushion, right up against the older brother's side. Ikki spared his brother a weak sideways glare.

"Whatever." The blue haired young man grunted non commitally.

"I haven't seen you this agreeable in almost three years."

"Shun."

"Just saying."

Yet if life weren't subjected to change, it would hardly be life.

Saori came by one day, his half sister and the precious chosen heiress of the old man. She swung around once in a while, although Ikki could never discern what for, some charade of family maybe. Appearances have to be kept, after all. The girl herself was annoying, every bit as thoughtless as a Kido was wont to be. None the less, she was at nuisance at worst.

Then again, if things were that easy, she would hardly be an heiress. A while ago, Saori had seen Natassia, and for some reason became interested in owning a cat herself. Shockingly she did not demand her human pet Tatsumi to buy her one. Instead the 12 year-old- Saori had talked her way in circles until they agreed to let her have one of theirs.

She wanted Seiya. Of course she wanted Seiya. That too was not surprising. Seiya was an animated, friendly kitten. He probably looked cuter to a teenage girl. It was one more strike against Saori that she never learned to listen…nor evidently, to empathize, not even when dealing with Shun. She never was malicious about it, but in the end, she was simply too good at making sure no one had a good reason to refuse her; not unless you stopped her from speaking in the first place.

Ikki didn't. In fact, he nudged the cat over to her when she had asked. With Ikki's prompting, the young animal threw all reservations out the window and played hard with the young heiress.

He had to give props to Seiya though. It's happy mood cracked like glass the minute Saori brought him to the door in her little purse. He began to squirm and scramble, his tiny little claws digging into the expensive leather.

When Ikki turned away, refusing to look at little Seiya, he stopped struggling. His entire body slumped over like a rag doll. For the first time since the kitten had come to live with them, he let out a string of soft quivering mews and whimpers that could only be described as…..crying.

Ikki didn't wait til Saori had left to head back to his room. If his hands were clenched, that was only because he was annoyed.

It was just a stupid cat.

After that day, the rest of the cats gave him a wide berth, even Natassia, who was affectionate with almost everybody, scratched him once. Sometimes he would catch her bright green eyes glimmering accusingly at him. Shiryu and June avoided him altogether, and Dohko seem to take special glee in messing with his things. If that weren't enough, the sad looks from Shun seemed to conspire with them against him, his own little brother.

"You're mad."

"I'm not."

"You almost kicked Dohko…you never do that."

"He ripped my bag."

"It was the one Seiya chewed through."

"Your point?"

Three days later, they received a panicked phone call.

"…Amamiya-san!" the feminine voice sounded close to hysterics. "I-I apologize. I was careless. No one can find you cat. If it's possible, do you have any advice? I ask to send a car…"

"You're rather late I'm afraid," Shun replied with a sigh and a small smile. "Miho-san was it? Nii-san has already left."

It took him only fifteen minutes to hop the train over to the posh neighborhood where the sprawling Renaissance style manor was located. By then it had begun to storm. Thunder roared in his ears so loud that he didn't hear the loud clink of a flying coffee tin or the subsequent terrified squeak it emitted. What he did notice was another stray cat pounce on it, flipping the tin over and dumping a tiny bundle of chocolate brown fur hard onto the concrete.

Wide mahogany eyes glared fiercely at his attacker. Its pathetic little hiss only seemed to encourage the other far more vicious feline to pounce.

At least until a very human foot punted the much larger cat clear across the alley; its owner scooped the muddy little bundle up with one hand. Despite the wetness and cold, or because of it, Seiya was soon dumped inside a warm jacket, his fur soaking into the thin T shirt beneath. Immediately, he curled up like a little fury cocoon, crying.

Ikki walked down to block to a place where the cement wall was low enough to jump over relatively easily, breezing past security who was used to him by now. Saori looked up from berating her maid almost immediately once Ikki stepped through the door. She was probably Seiya's "caretaker".

"You found…"

"Yup."

"Thank goodness please give him to…"

"I'm taking him back."

"What…"

"Hearing problems, sis?"

"But Ikki, you gave him to me already," the thirteen year old protested. "I'm sorry , I don't know how he got out, I guess I need more security cameras. Miho was being careless, but he's still…"

"Miserable?" a bored but sharp voice cut her off. "It's been a week. Seiya ain't complicated. He needs food, water, and something to keep him busy. How the hell did you manage to mess that up?"

Ikki didn't give her another word in edgewise, too much trouble, just picked up Seiya's water bowl and accepted an umbrella from one of the maids, a cute number with her hair in twin pigtails. The little kitten shivered Ikki's jacket. Fuck that was uncomfortable.

"A-APOLOGIZE TO OUJOU-SAMA, UNGRATEFUL DELINQUE - AUGH!"

He felt a little satisfaction in socking the scandalized bodyguard in the jaw, but it was hardly enough to cool his temper. Eventually Saori fell quiet and stopped her protests. He wasn't sure if he was happy or disappointed that their mutual father hadn't been around. It would've been fun to argue with the old bastard. The little sandpaper tongue flicking against his jaw-line, however, convinced him to leave without another word, impatiently waving off the offer for a ride by one of his other (half) brothers still living at the family manor.

He got hell for it when he got home, sort of regretting turning down the transport. Even Ikki knew better than to argue with a mother hen Shun.

All he wanted at that point was a searing hot bath. Luckily, Seiya had fallen asleep somewhere between their house and the train station. So without much fuss, he released the chocolate colored kitten to his brother's waiting hand before heading straight to the bathroom.

It wasn't until he was half submerged in gently steaming water that he could finally think clearly again, although not clearly enough to question just why he hopped the train across town for a lost cat. Lucky though, Seiya didn't look like he'd have survived that fight.

By the time he was human again and toweling his hair dry, Natassia had managed to catch and pinned her adoptive kitten in between two silky golden paws. A pink tongue worked quickly and efficiently through the damp brown fur. Seiya squirmed beneath her hold squeaking like a rubber duck, one foot kicking comically.

Was this little shit even a cat?

They both stopped what they were doing when Ikki entered the room, the over bearing mother removing her restrictive paws. She seemed to have forgiven him.

Bright mahogany eyes blinked shyly up at him, the small body curling in on itself until Seiya looked like he was all head and little else. His soft floppy ears drooped far enough to look plastered against his head and his pink nose was hidden protectively. Seiya had not.

Understandable.

So he walked pass them in his usual way and settled on the rug where Shun brought him a cup of hot coffee. He stayed there flipping through channels despite an irate Shiryu nudging his hand and then his leg, despite June hopping on the table to glare heatedly at him, despite Hyouga straight up nipping his fingers and Jabu hissing angrily by his feet. He didn't move until after all four of them gave up and left. Not until a small brown heard butted against his thigh, did Ikki pay any mind. The bundle of chocolate colored curls was scooped up in a hand that fit it exactly and deposited in a warm lap.

There he sat, petting the kitten who trembled miserably on his leg, who only let out a few little hiccups now and again. Ikki slept in the living room that night.

The next few days were odd. Ikki made a point to scoop the little kitten up whenever he came near enough. Seiya would freeze all the while shaking miserably inside his palm and hop off after a certain stretch of time. Yet, despite that, the kitten followed him from room to room, even his bedroom which surprised all of them. They never did find out how the young cat learned how to navigate the stairs. He even sat just at the end of the foyer, walking away only after the elder brother came home every day. Ikki learned to stay in one place when he did things, letting Seiya catch up, or slow down at a sedate pace. They watched each other from the corners of their eyes.

Ikki was new to this too.

Slowly, the gap dwindled. Their episodes lengthened.

It was on a stormy night, much like the one when Ikki had reclaimed his little cat, the roar of thunder sent the little brown fur ball squeaking to hide between his feet. Deftly, Seiya was scooped up in a hand that he fit perfectly. Big liquid eyes blinked up at Ikki before the little kitten rearranged himself inside the calloused hand, curling against the palm and rubbing his head affectionately against strong warm fingers, seeking comfort.

This time, he got it.


End file.
